The present invention relates to an adaptor for connecting chip cards to a computer slot, preferably according to PCMCIA standard, comprised of a card-shaped housing with an upper and lower cover plate having an insertion slot at one end face that opens into a receiving channel for receiving a chip card and also having at the opposite side a contact plug. A printed circuit board is enclosed in the housing and electrically connected to the contact plug. It extends parallel to the receiving channel and is provided with contact elements for contacting a chip card.
A chip card in the aforementioned context is defined as a card-shaped support element having electronic components, especially micro processors, in which different readable information data are saved. Such chip cards, also called smart cards, are especially employed in computer technology and have found more and more applications in connection with authentication of subjects. In addition to its use as an identity card, for example, for operating access control systems, chip cards are also increasingly used in connection with electronic banking where they are, for example, used by credit card companies in connection with POS systems in order to eliminate magnetic strip cards.
For reading a chip card, contacting units with reading device, in the form of an adaptor system, are provided that allow the connection of the chip card to a computer slot according to PCMCIA standard. The known adaptors of the prior art have a PCMCIA plug which can be used for mechanically and electrically contacting the respective PCMCIA slot of the computer system. The reading of the chip card is performed by contacting elements provided within the receiving channel for the chip card which contact the chip card physically or, for example, in a contact-free manner by optical or magnetic means.
From German Gebrauchsmuster 295 05 678 a contacting unit (adaptor) for card-shaped support elements with electronic components is known which is provided with a base plate having a size that is suitable for a plane-parallel receiving of a card-shaped support element. At least one printed circuit board with contacting elements at its surface is provided for contacting the electronic components of the support element, whereby the printed circuit board is especially parallel to the base plate. The support element also comprises a contact plug arranged at one of the end faces of the base plate. A plate shaped cover element, which is substantially congruent to the base plate, forms together with the printed circuit board a slot-shaped insertion channel. It is connected to the base plate in the area of the contact field and the opposed corners. The attachment in the area of the contact field is realized by two stays positioned laterally to the contact field which are unitary (monolithic) parts of the base plate and the cover element. A disadvantage is that such a construction can be produced only with great economical expenditure and is thus not suitable for inexpensive mass production. This is so because of the unitary construction of the base plate and the cover element which requires a time-consuming and thus unfavorable assembly. Furthermore, the selection of suitable materials is limited because the cover element for the stays must be bent about the contact field onto the underside of the contacting unit so that a certain bending flexibility of the material to be used is imperative.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an adaptor for contacting chip cards with a standardized PCMCIA slot of a computer etc. such that a simple, inexpensive manufacture can be realized which allows economical mass production in view of the increasing use of the afore disclosed card systems.